II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1468

To authorize the minting and issuance of Capitol Visitor Center

Commemorative coins, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 29, 1999

Mr. LOTT (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. GRAMM, Mr. SARBANES, Mr.

MCCONNELL, Mr. DODD, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. MACK, Mr. LEAHY, Mr.

THURMOND, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. CRAPO,

Mr. COVERDELL, Mr. ROTH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. DEWINE,

Mr. SPECTER, Mr. HELMS, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. BURNS,

Mr. GREGG, Mr. ENZI, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. COCHRAN,

Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. NICKLES, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. HAGEL,

Mr. LUGAR, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KERRY, Ms. LANDRIEU,

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BAYH, Mr. BIDEN, Mr.

BINGAMAN, Mr. BYRD, Mr. CLELAND, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN,

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr.

BREAUX, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. REID, Mr. ROBB, Mr. BRYAN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. REED, Mr. KERREY, Mr.

HATCH, Mr. FRIST, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr.

INOUYE, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Mr. GORTON) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice, considered, and read the third time

A BILL

To authorize the minting and issuance of Capitol Visitor

Center Commemorative coins, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Capitol

3 Visitor Center Commemorative Coin Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) Congress moved to Washington, District of

7 Columbia, and first convened in the Capitol building

8 in the year 1800;

9 (2) the Capitol building is now the greatest visi10 ble symbol of representative democracy in the world;

11 (3) the Capitol building has approximately

12 5,000,000 visitors annually and suffers from a lack

13 of facilities necessary to properly serve them;

14 (4) the Capitol building and persons within the

15 Capitol have been provided with excellent security

16 through the dedication and sacrifice of the United

17 States Capitol Police;

18 (5) Congress has appropriated $100,000,000,

19 to be supplemented with private funds, to construct

20 a Capitol Visitor Center to provide continued high

21 security for the Capitol and enhance the educational

22 experience of visitors to the Capitol;

23 (6) Congress would like to offer the opportunity

24 for all persons to voluntarily participate in raising

25 funds for the Capitol Visitor Center; and
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1 (7) it is appropriate to authorize coins com2 memorating the first convening of the Congress in

3 the Capitol building with proceeds from the sale of

4 the coins, less expenses, being deposited for the

5 United States Capitol Preservation Commission with

6 the specific purpose of aiding in the construction,

7 maintenance, and preservation of a Capitol Visitor

8 Center.

9 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.

10 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treas11 ury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

12 shall mint and issue the following coins:

13 (1) BIMETALLIC COINS.—Not more than

14 200,000 $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum,

15 in accordance with such specifications as the Sec16 retary determines to be appropriate.

17 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000

18 $1 coins, which shall—

19 (A) weigh 26.73 grams;

20 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and

21 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per22 cent copper.

23 (3) HALF DOLLAR.—Not more than 750,000

24 half dollar clad coins, each of which—

25 (A) shall weigh 11.34 grams;
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1 (B) have a diameter of 1.205 inches; and

2 (C) be minted to the specifications for half

3 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title

4 31, United States Code.

5 (b) $5 GOLD COINS.—If the Secretary determines

6 that the minting and issuance of bimetallic coins under

7 subsection (a)(1) is not feasible, the Secretary may mint

8 and issue instead not more than 100,000 $5 coins, which

9 shall—

10 (1) weigh 8.359 grams;

11 (2) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and

12 (3) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent

13 alloy.

14 (c) WAIVER.—Each of the mintage levels specified in

15 subsection (a) may be waived in accordance with section

16 5112(m)(2)(B) of title 31, United States Code.

17 (d) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this

18 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of

19 title 31, United States Code.

20 SEC. 4. SOURCES OF BULLION.

21 (a) PLATINUM AND GOLD.—The Secretary shall ob22 tain platinum and gold for minting coins under this Act

23 from available sources.

24 (b) SILVER.—The Secretary may obtain silver for

25 minting coins under this Act from stockpiles established
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1 under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling

2 Act, and from other available sources.

3 SEC. 5. DESIGN OF COINS.

4 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins

6 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the

7 first meeting of the United States Congress in the

8 United States Capitol Building.

9 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On

10 each coin minted under this Act, there shall be—

11 (A) a designation of the value of the coin;

12 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2000’’; and

13 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’,

14 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer15 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.

16 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted

17 under this Act shall be—

18 (1) selected by the Secretary, after consultation

19 with the United States Capitol Preservation Com20 mission (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commis21 sion’’) and the Commission of Fine Arts; and

22 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative

23 Coin Advisory Committee.
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1 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE OF COINS.

2 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this

3 Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.

4 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United

5 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina6 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under

7 this Act.

8 (c) FIRST USE OF YEAR 2000 DATE.—The coins

9 minted under this Act shall be the first commemorative

10 coins of the United States to be issued bearing the inscrip11 tion of the year ‘‘2000’’.

12 (d) PROMOTION CONSULTATION.—The Secretary

13 shall—

14 (1) consult with the Commission in order to es15 tablish a role for the Commission or an entity des16 ignated by the Commission in the promotion, adver17 tising, and marketing of the coins minted under this

18 Act; and

19 (2) if the Secretary determines that such action

20 would be beneficial to the sale of coins minted under

21 this Act, enter into a contract with the Commission

22 or an entity referred to in paragraph (1) to carry

23 out the role established under paragraph (1).
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1 SEC. 7. SALE OF COINS.

2 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins minted under this Act

3 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum

4 of—

5 (1) the face value of the coins;

6 (2) the surcharge provided in subsection (d)

7 with respect to such coins; and

8 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins

9 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery,

10 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).

11 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk

12 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable

13 discount.

14 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept

16 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act

17 before the issuance of such coins.

18 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre19 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea20 sonable discount.

21 (d) SURCHARGES.—All sales under this Act shall in22 clude a surcharge established by the Secretary, in an

23 amount equal to not more than—

24 (1) $50 per coin for the $10 coin or $35 per

25 coin for the $5 coin;

26 (2) $10 per coin for the $1 coin; and
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1 (3) $3 per coin for the half dollar coin.

2 SEC. 8. DISTRIBUTION OF SURCHARGES.

3 All surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale

4 of coins minted under this Act shall be deposited in the

5 Capitol Preservation Fund in accordance with section

6 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code, and shall be made

7 available to the Commission for the purpose of aiding in

8 the construction, maintenance, and preservation of a Cap9 itol Visitor Center.

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